Finding A Prince

Chapter 2

"Let's have breakfast," Kiera said, smiling at her aunt. Behind the smile were thousands of knives, waiting to plunge into her aunt's heart.

"Sure, niece," her aunt said, the scowl still on her face.

"I was thinking, my dear niece" her aunt started, as they sat down to break their fast, "that I should inform you of the few rules that the council has made after the death of your Mother and my poor sister."

"Rules? What rules, Aunt Philippa?" Kiera said, acting oblivious. Truthfully, she already knew what rules her aunt was talking about and she had also found a solution for that.

"Oh dear, you do not know of them?" Her aunt asked, astonished. Kiera could see the evilness in her aunt's eyes as she continued.

"Well, I guess it is my duty as your aunt to, at least, tell you of it." She said.

Kiera nodded. "Of course, Aunt Philippa. I trust that only you care about me becoming Queen of Atlantis. That's why you are so concerned about me," Kiera said.

Her aunt smiled weakly before continuing, "The first rule is," she started, saying it as though she had memorised the entire rulebook, "Princess Kiera would have to be married before she can be crowned queen. Shall the princess be unable to obey this rule and get married within six months, she shall no longer be an heir to the throne and, thereby, be banished from the kingdom."

Kiera gasped. She had not known that she would be banished if she did not marry. She was only told that she would not be crowned. Luckily, she had a plan to save herself.

Jacob, one of her friends, had agreed to marry her, for namesake, for a year. After that, they would separate and live life the way they wanted to. This way, Kiera would be able to snatch the throne from Aunt Philippa while not being tied to live life with Jacob, a man she only saw as her friend, forever. Even though there was no benefit for Jacob in doing this, his loyalty laid with Queen Vanesca and now, Kiera, and he was happy to help in saving the throne.

"Married? Within six months?" Kiera exclaimed. "How is that possible? How would I do it?" She said, faking shock. She needed to convince her aunt that she knew nothing about the rules so that her aunt would be less prepared to see her happily married by the end of six months.

Aunt Philippa grabbed Kiera's hand. "I have faith in you, my dear niece. I am sure you will be able to find a man worthy of you in Atlantis."

"I hope so, Aunt Philippa. I really do," Kiera said grimly.

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Kiera and her loyal lady-in-waiting, Christina, rushed through the hundreds of narrow alleyways in search for a tall, black-haired man. The blond wig settling on top of Kiera's head, made her feel uneasy but it was necessary to conceal her true identity for the task she was about to do. Kiera couldn't wait to go back to long, wavy brown hair and beautiful gowns. These breeches were extremely uncomfortable.

Kiera knocked on the door weakly. She was scared that if she knocked harder, the double- storey building might fall over on her. Paint chipped off from almost every part of the building and the glass in the three  windows of the top floor were broken.

Kiera furrowed her eyebrows in surprise. Why was Jacob living in such a horrible place? As far as she remembered, Jacob was extremely wealthy. Living in such a place only suggested that Jacob was hiding from someone. Her eyes widened and she realised that there was no other person Jacob was hiding from than her.

Why was Jacob hiding from her? She knocked harder on the door and cringed when it creaked before opening a bit. The door was unlocked. Kiera opened it fully before stepping in slowly, her lady-in-waiting following quietly behind her.